Even in Death
by Scealai
Summary: An uneasy alliance is formed between heros from different backgrounds when evil moves from Los Angeles to New York City. A Daredevil/Angel/Smallville crossover. Matt/Elektra;Angel/Cordelia;Lex/Chloe.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Even in Death  
Author: T. C. (Scealai)  
Category: Daredevil/Angel/Smallville Crossover  
Rating: R  
Pairing: Matt/Elektra; Angel/Cordelia; Lex/Chloe  
Summary: An uneasy alliance is formed between heros from different   
backgrounds when evil moves from Los Angeles to New York   
City.  
Disclaimer: The characters from the movie Daredevil belong to 20th  
Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, and Marvel Comics. The  
characters from Angel belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy,  
20th Century Fox, and the WB. The characters from   
Smallville belong to Alfred Gough & Miles Millar who based  
them on the DC comics characters created by Jerry Siegel   
& Joe Schuster. The series is produced by the WB &   
Tollin/Robbins Productions.  
Spoilers: The movie Daredevil is definitely spoiled so if you haven't  
seen it, shut off your computer and go now. Also things  
from the current seasons of Smallville and Angel will be  
used as well as spoiler rumors for Angel.  
***********************************************************************  
Part One  
  
Little, all too brief moments ruled his life now. The first time the  
intoxicating scent of rose oil tickled his senses and invaded his soul.  
The intricate mating dance of martial arts in the playground and the  
feeling of delicately balancing his weight against hers on the   
teeter-totter. The shimmering blue image of her face composed by the   
rain and his radar sense that replaced his sight. Tracing and   
memorizing every inch of her body with his fingertips as they made   
love. Holding her while they danced at the ball. Matt Murdock   
crouched high up on a ledge overlooking the neighborhood of New York  
City known as Hell's Kitchen and savored every memory he had of Elektra  
Natchios. It was all he had of her, a handful of memories of their  
fleeting relationship that had ended abruptly and much too soon. The  
last memory - and the only unhappy one he allowed himself - was always  
the slow pulsing of her heart fading to blackness as it beat its last.  
  
A stifled scream that would have been barely audible to someone on   
street level was as clear to Matt as if the woman was standing next to  
him. It was time to put away his memories and become Daredevil,   
guardian of the night. The red leather of his costume creaked as he  
stood. The scream had come from an alley a few blocks away. Without  
any thoughts about risks or danger, Daredevil leaped from the ledge to  
the rooftop across the street. He raced to the other side and launched  
himself down onto a fire escape. He jumped across the alley and caught  
the drainpipe of the next building. He slid down and landed in the  
alley. This was the only thing he could do for Elektra now - protect  
others in the way he had failed to protect her.  
  
"Not sorry to interrupt," Daredevil growled in a low, gravely voice.  
The heartbeat of the woman pounded in his ears and compounded with the  
heavy breathing of the man, the sounds created the image of a large  
male body pressing a smaller female shape up against a wall. "Let her  
go."  
  
"Mind your own business, pal." The man didn't turn around. Daredevil  
could tell because there was no sound of a shoe scraping the pavement.  
Instead he heard the tearing of material the pop of buttons.   
  
"Don't you read the papers? You are my business." Daredevil grabbed  
the man and tossed him down the alley. He hit a chainlink fence with  
a loud clatter and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Daredevil  
turned to the terrified woman, conscious of the fact that he was   
causing some of her fear and wanting to relieve it. "Are you all   
right?"  
  
"Y..yes," the woman stuttered. She was still pressed up against the  
wall. Daredevil heard the bricks scratching the material of her coat  
as she edged toward the street. He let her go. Her footsteps   
retreated quickly as she left the alley and realized that no one was   
following her.   
  
Daredevil turned to her attacker. "Get up." He slowly approached the  
fallen man. It was the predator's heart that pounded with fear now.  
  
"Don't hurt me."  
  
The plea sickened Daredevil. The man had probably heard it many times  
from his victims and had ignored it - most likely he had enjoyed it.  
For a moment, Daredevil wished things were the way they used to be and  
he could ignore the appeal as well, but things had changed. He had   
changed. He no longer fought for vengeance, it truly was about justice  
now. Daredevil picked the man up and lifted him off of his feet. Just  
because he handed the bad guys over to the police now, that didn't mean  
he couldn't put the fear of the devil in them first.  
  
*****  
  
"That's not Cordelia." Willow's words echoed in Angel's mind. They  
wouldn't leave him alone. Willow hadn't said them out loud, she had  
made the declaration telepathically to him just before she and Faith  
had left for Sunnydale. When he had flatly refused to believe it,   
Willow had went on to explain that something was missing from Cordelia  
and something else had taken its place. She couldn't tell him any more  
than that without digging deeper into Cordelia's being and very likely  
alerting whatever it was that was possessing Cordelia that she knew   
about it. Instead she just warned Angel not to trust Cordelia.  
  
Angel glanced over to Cordelia. She was sitting with Fred at her desk  
and the two women were laughing at something on the computer screen.  
Angel leaned back in his chair and set his feet up on his desk, keeping  
Fred and Cordelia within his line of sight. Cordelia tucked her hair  
behind her ear and beamed at Fred. Willow was wrong. She didn't know  
Cordelia - not like he knew her - and she had probably just sensed  
Cordelia's demonic abilities that The Powers bestowed upon her.   
Besides, Lorne had read Cordelia and he didn't say anything about her  
being possessed.  
  
No, Lorne had seen death, destruction, and evil when he had read   
Cordelia. But that wasn't a part of her, it couldn't be. She was his  
champion. He knew that word got thrown around a lot, but it was true.  
She was the driving force of his mission. She had kept him going all  
these years - first with her demands of payment and then with the  
physical demands the visions had cost her. She had become part demon  
to help him. She had promised to be there when he finally shanshued.  
Cordelia couldn't be evil. Willow was wrong.  
  
As Angel watched Cordelia with a slight smile, she beckoned to someone.  
For a moment, Angel thought it was him and he swung his legs down to  
the floor and started to stand up. Connor went to her side instead.   
His son. Angel sat back down, the smile gone. Cordelia smiled at  
Connor and touched his arm. She was pregnant with his son's child and  
she was happy about it. They had announced it earlier. Wesley and   
Gunn were concerned with the possible ramifications, just as they had  
been when Darla had turned up pregnant. Fred was being supportive of  
Cordelia even though she was confused by the other woman's feelings and  
actions. Angel had retreated to his office where he was now.  
  
Would his Cordelia have done this to him? After his anger had abated  
somewhat, Angel had come up with all kinds of explanations for what had  
happened between his son and the woman he loved. It had looked like   
the end of the world. Connor was an angry boy getting back at the   
father he had been taught to hate. Cordelia was confused. She was   
afraid. Both of them had been alone. Or was it something else? Could  
Willow be right and this woman not be Cordelia at all? Angel sighed  
and rubbed his hand over his forehead and through his hair. He didn't  
want to suspect her motives, but why had she trusted Connor? After   
finding out that he was a vampire and that they fought demons, why had   
she left the hotel with some strange boy who had just killed a demon?   
Why hadn't she been afraid of Connor? By staying with Connor she had  
isolated the two of them from the group. Connor trusted her. Hell,   
the boy loved her. He had tried to kill his own father to protect her.  
Maybe she had made him think he was protecting her.  
  
The coffee mug on his desk was the perfect missile to smash against the   
wall. It fell to the floor in as many pieces as Angel had questions.   
He jumped up and started pacing. This wasn't right. He had wanted   
Cordelia for so long, was his jealousy of his son making him question  
her? But it was Willow who had made him question.  
  
"Angel, are you okay? I heard something break." She stood in the  
doorway with a worried frown marring her features. Her hand rested on  
her abdomen. "I know you're upset about this baby, but you have to  
accept it. Connor and I are going to be parents. This child is going  
to be your grandchild." She smiled at him and caressed her slightly  
distended stomach.   
  
For the first time since she had suddenly shown up in the hotel lobby,  
Angel really looked at her. There was something in her eyes, something  
he didn't like. She looked satisfied. He knew Cordelia's faults.  
She could be tactless and sometimes harsh in her observations and   
advice, but she hadn't been intentionally cruel since highschool.   
"Who are you? And you had better tell me where Cordelia is."  
  
*****  
  
The room was alive with the severe, driving sounds of Garbage's 'I'm  
Only Happy When it Rains.' The loud music was in stark contrast to the  
utterly still figure on the bed. Elektra Natchios remained in a deep  
coma, unaware of the noise or the person that sat vigil at her beside.  
Lex Luthor smoothed back a strand of her hair and glanced up at the  
monitor above her head. Her heartbeat was strong and steady.  
  
"You're doing fine, Athena." Lex used the pet name he had given   
Elektra when they were teenagers. He had been fourteen and his father  
had taken him to Greece to close a deal with Nikolas Natchios - her  
father. The first time he had see her, she had been training with her  
sensei and he had immediately thought of the goddess of war and wisdom.  
She had laughed when he called her Athena, but she had also blushed   
with pleasure. Later, when they were bonding over too-busy fathers and  
the death of their mothers, she had confided that her mother had also  
likened her to the goddess of war once and that she missed her   
desperately. Lex knew then that he had found a kindred soul in Elektra  
and she had been his only friend until Clark Kent had saved his life.   
Lex brushed the bandage that covered Elektra's neck. "You just have   
to wake up now."  
  
As usual, Elektra didn't seem to be taking orders. There wasn't even  
a flutter of her eyelid or a twitch of a finger. Lex had never seen   
her so still. She had been so happy she had called to insist that he  
attend the Black and White Ball at her father's hotel in New York.  
"Lex, you have to come. There is someone you have to meet." That   
someone had turned out to be Matt Murdock, a blind do-gooder lawyer  
who had made Elektra glow with a visible aura of love. Maybe he should  
have told Matt Murdock that Elektra's death was only a sham. He might  
be able bring her out of this coma and he might have had an idea of who  
had done this to her. But then again, maybe not. Elektra had cut him  
off pretty harshly at her father's funeral. It was doubtful that she  
had confided in him. She certainly hadn't confided in Lex, except to  
say that the person who killed her father would pay with his life, and  
this was where she had ended up. Lex had tried to stop her. Had tried  
to show her there were other roads to vengeance.  
  
*****  
  
A few weeks earlier....  
  
Lex sipped at his champagne and surveyed the tuxedo and gown clad  
crowd. He recognized the wheeler-dealers and the socialites, but he  
wasn't there to see them. He was looking forward to seeing Elektra.   
He looked up and there she was, looking down on them from the top of  
the staircase. She was luminous in her shimmery silver gown and her  
honey brown hair swept up with a few stray tendrils brushing her neck.  
Helen's fingers dug painfully into his biceps and Lex's smile turned   
into a wince.  
  
"Is that your friend?" Helen asked tightly, emphasizing the word  
friend. She didn't believe that he and Elektra had never slept   
together. Hell, sometimes he couldn't believe it either, but it was   
true. He and Elektra had needed each other as a friend, so that's what  
they were. He couldn't explain that properly to Helen though. To ease  
the tension, Lex had invited Clark and his friends. Unfortunately, he  
had been unaware that his friend was in the middle of a teenage love  
triangle that only made the tension worse. At the moment, Clark and  
Lana were trying not to gaze doe-eyed at each other for Chloe's sake.  
Chloe had walked off in disgust and had cornered Ben Urich, a reporter  
for the Post.  
  
"Lex, you came." Elektra beamed at him as she approached. Her fingers  
were laced with those of a well-dressed man wearing sunglasses, the   
cane indicating why the glasses were necessary. Lex was mildly   
surprised. Elektra had never been the Florence Nightingale type,   
attracted to wounded birds. She greeted him with kisses to both of his  
cheeks. "This is Matt Murdock. Matt, this is my old and very best   
friend, Lex Luthor."  
  
"It's nice to meet you." Lex shook Matt's offered hand. "Didn't I   
see you talking to Wilson Fisk?"  
  
"Yes, my partner sometimes forgets that we only represent the   
innocent." Matt smiled politely.  
  
"That's certainly not Wilson Fisk." Lex smirked. Helen squeezed his  
arm once again. "Elektra, Matt, this is Dr. Helen Bryce."  
  
"His girlfriend," Helen added. "I just moved into the mansion."   
  
"How nice. I had lost hope that Lex would ever find someone who could  
put up with him full time." Elektra leaned forward and gave Lex a peck  
on the cheek. "Have fun. I'm going to be rude and spend the rest of   
the evening dancing with Matt." Unfortunately, that's not how the  
evening went. Lex watched with concern as Elektra followed her father  
out of the ballroom. The party ended abruptly with the news that   
Nikolas Natchios had been murdered.  
  
At the funeral, a few days later, Lex waited for Elektra in the  
backseat of the sedan. She was talking to Matt. She walked away from  
the lawyer, leaving him standing alone in the pouring rain, and got   
into the car. "Drive," she ordered hoarsely. She stared at her lap.  
There were no tears, not for her father or the man she had left  
heartbroken. "He wanted me to stay with him."  
  
"Why didn't you? He seems like a nice guy and he made you happier than  
I've ever seen you." Lex took Elektra's hand and gave it a comforting  
squeeze. "Your father would want you to be happy."  
  
"Dikaiosyni dikos mou." Elektra pulled her hand away. "My father   
would want justice. I was stupid to believe that I could be happy   
without paying for it with tragedy."  
  
*****  
  
Tragedy absolutely was the word for what had happened. Lex squeezed   
Elektra's hand, irrationally hoping that she would pull it from his  
grasp. There was no reasoning with her in the days that followed her  
father's funeral. She trained hard than ever and Lex was actually   
afraid. She was entirely focused on taking her revenge in blood. When  
she had left to go after the man who had killed her father - she   
referred to him as the man without fear - Lex had thought he would never  
see her again and he had almost been right.  
  
The song 'My Goddess' by The Exies ended and there was only the soft  
beep of Elektra's heartbeat on the monitor and the whir of the cd  
player changing cd's in the sudden silence. "Not your standard coma  
selection, but if it works...." Chloe walked hesitantly in the room.  
"Is it working?"  
  
"Not yet." Lex granted the girl a tired smile. After all the times  
Clark had come to him complaining about how Chloe had invaded his  
privacy and used his life as a headlining expose, Lex was surprised   
that she was keeping this secret. A Greek heiress near death after  
attempting to avenge her father's murder was big news, but Chloe wasn't  
writing it. "This would be quite the exclusive for the Torch. It   
would cement an internship at the Planet."  
  
"Wow." Chloe dropped down into a chair on the other side of the bed.  
She brushed at the blond fringe of bangs that covered her forehead.  
Lately, Lex had noticed that she had taken to dying chunks of her hair  
darker colors. Today it was an indigo blue. "I was wondering when you  
would get around to asking me what I wanted, but I thought you would   
be less obscure and more insulting."  
  
For some reason, Lex was disappointed. He shouldn't have been, he   
practically ruled the world where everyone had a price. "So, what do  
you want in return for compromising your journalistic integrity?" Lex  
stared coolly at her, thinking that he already knew the answer to his  
question. Chloe might be infatuated with Clark Kent, but there was   
really only one love of her life. He would make Chloe Sullivan a   
household name if he had to if that would keep Elektra safe.  
  
"Nothing. I don't plan on compromising anything." Chloe looked down  
at the sleeping woman and shivered. She looked like a prone statue,  
beautiful and remote. Elektra had looked a lot more human and fragile  
that night Chloe had found her on the rooftop. When Clark and Lana had  
left to go back to Smallville, Chloe had stayed in New York in Lex's  
suite at the Grand with the excuse that she wanted to tag along with   
Ben Urich and soak up reporter vibes and hopefully make a good enough  
impression for a reccomendation. That night she had been in Urich's   
office, reading some of his past articles on Daredevil and the Kingpin  
when the police scanner on his desk started to crackle with urgent   
voices. It was too much temptation, Chloe had to see this Daredevil   
guy in action and who knew, it might get her a byline in the Post.   
  
It was weird Chloe logic that had led her to that rooftop with the   
chaos of cops, paramedics, and onlookers down on the street. Where  
else would you find a leather wearing vigilante? And she had found  
one. She had also found a great story, but she couldn't write it.  
  
"You are not going to print one word about Elektra." Lex's harsh,  
threatening tone broke into Chloe's memories.  
  
Chloe frowned at Lex. He talked to Clark too much and had obviously  
gotten a bad impression of her. "Of course I'm not, but it wouldn't be  
because of anything you threatened to do," she snapped back. "If I was  
going to break this story, it would already be published."  
  
"Then why haven't you?"  
  
Blood on her hands. Chloe looked down and could almost see the rusty  
stains on her palms and fingers. It had been ages before she had the  
chance to wash the blood away. "Because I don't have the whole story.  
I'm not going to publish a word until I get an exclusive interview with  
Elektra Natchios."  
  
Lex leaned forward and whispered loudly in Elektra's ear, "Take my   
advice, Athena, and wake up now." He glanced up at Chloe with a   
smirk. "Chloe is horribly persistent and it'll only get worse the  
longer she has to wait."  
  
"Haha." Chloe rolled her eyes. For the first time in her life, she  
didn't really want an interview. She felt responsible - not for   
Elektra's death, but for her life. Blood on her hands. It had gotten  
there when she had made an impromptu pressure bandage using her light  
summer sweater and the tightness of Elektra's leather vest. Then she  
had started CPR. It had taken forever for Lex to find them. Actually,  
it had probably only been a few minutes before the illegally hired  
police helicopter swooped down and whisked them to a private hospital.  
Lex had paid everyone involved in resuscitating Elektra for their  
silence, everyone except her. Chloe didn't need payment. "God, I   
don't know how Clark does it. Being accountable for other people's   
lives is tiring," Chloe muttered.  
  
"Excuse me?" Lex raised an eyebrow. He had caught what she said, but  
he wanted her to repeat it. It was nice to share the responsibility of  
protecting Elektra with someone else.  
  
"Nothing. I saw Helen on my way in." Chloe waved her hand at him   
before he could reproach her. "Don't worry, I avoided her. She didn't  
see me. Shouldn't you tell her about Elektra? She seems like a smart  
woman, she's going to be suspicious of you disappearing into the   
unused wing of the mansion all the time."  
  
"I told her I was thinking of redoing it. Helen wouldn't understand  
about Elektra." Lex sighed. He wanted to let Helen in behind his   
emotional walls, he really did, but not at his best friend's expense.  
It galled him that he couldn't trust the woman he loved. He knew that  
Helen would insist on telling the authorities that Elektra was alive  
and he hoped that it would be because of her morals and not out of   
jealousy. He couldn't take the chance that Elektra's attacker wouldn't  
come back to finish the job. He had to protect her, even if it meant  
sacrificing his relationship with Helen.  
  
*****  
  
"Hubris. It was your downfall, you know." Nathaniel Elias   
straightened his cravat and smoothed his tuxedo jacket. His silver   
blond hair hang down to the middle of his back and was gathered in an  
elegant ponytail. His gaze in the mirror shifted from his reflection  
to the image behind him. A cage with bars of purple fire sat in the  
corner of the dark, wood paneled room. Inside was the glowing astral  
form of Cordelia Chase. "You shouldn't beat yourself up too badly for  
it though. It's been the bane of human existence for centuries."  
  
"Shut up," Cordelia yelled. She threw herself at the purple flames   
that contained her and was zapped back. She fell to the floor and   
stayed there. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."  
  
"But I'm in such a talkative mood." Nathaniel smiled. He turned, but  
didn't approach the cage. He could have let her go on believing that  
she was on a higher plane doing 'good,' but this was so much more fun.  
He could torment this woman with her colossal mistake for hours and   
never tire of it. "Did you really think the Powers That Be would offer  
you such an opportunity? Just because you suffered through a few  
nasty headaches and helped a vampire save some inconsequential lives?  
Ah, Cordelia, you really did think a lot of yourself."  
  
"No. I trusted Skip." Cordelia glared up at him. She hated his eyes.  
His dark brown eyes reminded her too much of Angel's. "I only accepted  
because you looked like Skip."  
  
"You keep telling yourself that." Nathaniel lifted his black cloak  
from the coat hanger and draped it over his shoulders. "Maybe the   
guilt won't crush you when your error in judgement destroys the people  
you love." It was a premature proclamation, but it would happen. His  
plan hadn't been without flaws - the first being when Cordelia kept her  
memories from the demon inhabiting her body - but luckily, Angel and  
his friends had been more than happy to overlook and sometimes even  
fix them for him. It wouldn't last long though, the Beast and the   
demon weren't smart enough not to make any mistakes. Angel would   
realize that the demon wasn't the woman he loved and he would tear  
Los Angeles apart looking for her and the sorcerer who held her   
captive. "Well now, you have a good evening Cordelia. I must leave  
for the Opera now. I'll be back in a couple of hours, so don't miss  
me terribly." Nathaniel nodded a pleasant good-bye to his prisoner.  
The vampire could search all he wanted, it wouldn't do him any good.  
Not when he and the lovely Miss Chase were in New York.  
  
To be continued.... 


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two  
  
"Matt." The name cracked out of her dry lips as a raspy, barely  
audible croak. Elektra opened her eyes, but everything was blurry.  
She closed them and then tried it again more slowly. The room was   
brought into focus a bit better. It wasn't a hospital room. It wasn't  
her room at the hotel and it wasn't Matt's room - although there was a  
gothic austere maleness about it that reminded her of Matt's. The   
walls were a dark blue with dark wood trim and there was little   
decoration. Elektra moved her head and winced. Her neck was stiff and  
she felt like she was made of concrete. What happened?  
  
There was a girl standing in front of the window. The light streaming  
in created a halo out of her short blond hair. She couldn't be an  
angel. She looked vaguely familiar and Elektra was pretty sure that   
angels didn't mishandle the sai. "You're gripping it wrong." The   
sentence came out stronger and more clearer than her first attempt at  
speaking, but was still just a croaky whisper.   
  
The three-pronged weapon clattered to the floor. "You're awake."   
Chloe rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her statement. Of course she  
was awake, she was talking. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Elektra stared at the sai on the floor, the sun reflected off the blade  
and glared into her eyes. It wasn't sunlight that filled her vision  
though. She saw the longest, middle tine slick with Matt's blood. She  
had sharpened the edges and points of the defensive weapon to create a  
deadlier version for her purpose. She had stabbed him. The memories   
were a strobe light of images. Her hatred had been so intense that she  
hadn't noticed that her opponent had only deflected her blows without   
hitting back. The only thing she had wanted was to watch the man   
dressed in the red leather devil costume die a horrible death at her   
hands. She hadn't known that Daredevil was Matt. She could hear   
herself accusing him of killing her father, calling him a liar when he  
denied it. She had thrust the point into his shoulder so hard that it  
had went right through his body and broke the window behind him. After  
he had fallen, she had removed the cowl with the red glass eyes and   
devil horns. The Man Without Fear was her lover, Matt Murdock. She had  
been wrong. Despite what Elektra had believed previously, her heart   
knew that Matt was not her father's assassin. Bullseye's appearance on  
the roof proved it.  
  
"You're remembering what happened, aren't you?"   
  
Elektra heard the girl's concerned words from a distance. She was in  
a different time, a different place. She felt the quicksilver pain and  
pressure of the sai's blade as it pierced her side. The blood that   
poured from the wound was a warm shock to her system. There was only  
one thing she had wanted to do. Elektra had crawled to Matt, needing  
to be with him. Needing him. 'Stay with me.' It was the last thing  
he had said to her. The remembered plea brought tears to her eyes.   
She had left him again. What had happened to him? He would have gone  
after Bullseye and he would have been hurt because of her.  
  
"It's okay." Chloe cautiously reached out and touched Elektra's hand.  
She hadn't expected her to cry. Probably because she was Lex's friend  
and she couldn't imagine him crying either.   
  
"Who are you?" The girl seemed innocuous enough, but Elektra wasn't  
exactly in fighting shape and even this girl could harm her if she  
wanted to.  
  
"Chloe. Chloe Sullivan. I'm a fr...I know Lex." Chloe wasn't totally  
comfortable calling Lex her friend. They were more acquainted through  
circumstances than through any mutual friendly feelings. Not that she  
didn't like Lex, she just didn't know him like she knew Clark or Pete.  
He didn't make her feel comfortable. She was pretty sure Lex saw her  
as a nuisance. "You're in Smallville at Luthor Manor. I can go get  
Lex, he's in his study. He had some business with his father to take  
care of, otherwise he would have been here. He's barely left your side  
the whole time you've been in a coma."  
  
"How long have I been unconscious?"   
  
"Three weeks." Chloe stood up to leave. "Are you going to be okay?  
Because I could just call him."  
  
"No, go. I'll be fine." Elektra smiled weakly. She needed some  
time alone to sort through everything. Lex would know what had   
happened to Matt. Her gaze dropped to the sai. She gestured toward  
it. "Do you mind?"  
  
Chloe bent and picked up the weapon that had fascinated her earlier.   
She didn't know why Elektra would want it, but she handed it to her  
anyway. "I'll go get Lex."  
  
"Thank you." Elektra held the sai close to her, resting it on her  
chest and relishing the comfortable weight. She was too weak to wield  
it, but that was only temporary. It felt good holding it. She gripped  
the handle tightly and closed her eyes as Chloe left the room. If   
Bullseye had killed Matt, she would find him. This time the sai would   
work for her and the blood that tainted it would belong to Bullseye.  
  
*****  
  
It disgusted Angel to watch her with his son. They were out in the  
courtyard having a picnic while he lurked in the shadows and watched.  
He wasn't going to leave Connor alone with her and she knew it. That's  
why she sought out the sun as much as possible, told everyone it was  
good for the baby. Angel doubted very much that this 'baby' would  
thrive in the light - it was more about darkness.   
  
She had laughed at him that day in his office when he had accused her   
of not being Cordelia. They both knew that the others wouldn't believe  
him. They would think jealousy had finally drove him over the edge.  
He would need proof and she knew he didn't have any. He had to find a  
way to trip her up - preferably before whatever it was she was  
carrying was born. Connor would hate him even more, any closeness that  
they had managed to forge would disappear once Angel revealed that   
the woman his son was being manipulated into loving and the child she  
carried had to die.  
  
"Angel." Fred approached from behind him. She smiled hesitantly when  
he turned. She saw Connor with her outside and pity immediately  
overwhelmed her delicate features. Angel hated the pity. If he told  
Fred that the woman outside with Connor wasn't Cordelia, she wouldn't   
believe him because of the pity. She would pass it off as him   
grasping at evil straws to explain why the woman he loved preferred his  
son.  
  
"Did you need something, Fred?" he asked when she didn't say anything  
more.  
  
Fred shook her head. "We were just researching Cordelia's pregnancy.  
Wesley is worried because it's progressing so quickly." Fred shifted  
her gaze back to the couple outside. She opened her mouth, but it   
took a few moments for her to gather her courage to speak. "Sh...she's  
different now."  
  
For the first time in a long time, Angel felt hope. Someone who wasn't  
the envious rejectee had noticed that she wasn't Cordelia. Or at   
least Fred had noticed that something was wrong with her behavior.  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well...." Fred glanced down at her feet and hunched her shoulders  
forward as if to make a smaller target. "She was cautious about Connor  
before he was born and Wesley said she had been pregnant with demon  
spawn before...not that any child of Connor's would automatically be  
demon spawn, but this isn't progressing like a normal pregnancy so...  
well, anyway, Wesley said her previous pregnancy upset her until the   
babies started influencing her." Fred looked up at him, her eyes huge  
and shining with earnest conviction. "She loves you, Angel, I know  
she does. She shouldn't be so happy that she's pregnant." Fred's  
hand covered her mouth to stop herself from saying any more.  
  
"It's okay, Fred." Angel sighed and squeezed her shoulder. "I've   
thought the same thing. I just...I just wish I knew why she's doing   
this to me." He was ashamed of the pathetic hangdog look he gave  
Fred to manipulate her feelings - it was an Angelus tactic - but these  
were desperate times. If he could lead her to the conclusion that  
the woman outside was not Cordelia, then Fred would tell Wesley, Gunn,  
and Lorne and her theory would be valid. The others would have to   
pursue it.  
  
"I don't know, maybe being a divine being changed her and we don't   
even know why she came back." Fred sighed. She felt so sorry for   
Angel. It would be great if she could find something to explain why  
Cordelia was acting so strangely. Kye-rumption and moira just didn't  
disappear. There had to be an explanation. "Maybe something horrible  
happened to her."  
  
"You think so?" Angel kept his tone neutral with only a hint of hope.  
He should have thought of this before, but he would have to be careful.  
If he pushed then Fred would get suspicious. Angel shook his head.  
"No. She doesn't love me. I have to accept that and try to move on.  
Be happy for them." That statement tasted worse than week old blood.  
He gazed mournfully out the window. He hoped he wasn't laying it on  
too thick.  
  
"Cordelia loves you. She's just confused because when she came back   
she didn't remember any of us. Maybe something went wrong with the  
memory spell and that's why she's acting so strangely. Once she's back  
to being herself, she'll realize how much she loves you, Angel." Fred  
frowned. Angel was her hero, although she didn't worship like she did  
when she had first come back from Pylea. She didn't like seeing him  
hurt and it was inconceivable to her that it was Cordelia who was doing  
this to him. She gasped as the connection Angel had wanted her to  
make clicked. "Oh, Angel, what if the person who came back isn't   
Cordelia?"  
  
*****  
  
Sometimes Cordelia escaped her prison and was back in her body. The  
first time it had happened, she had woken up naked and in bed next to  
Connor. She had tried to tell him that something was wrong, but   
something else had control. With growing horror, she heard herself  
explaining to Connor why they couldn't have sex again. Again! That   
implied, along with the fact that they were both naked, that there had  
been a time when they did have sex. She had sex with Angel's son. The  
cuddly baby boy she had rocked to sleep in her arms. The reality that  
only her body and not her mind or soul have been involved did not   
decrease the ickiness of it all. The thing that possessed her body  
had violated her. It had violated Connor. Worse of all, it had done  
something so vile and despicable that she would never be able to love  
Angel the way she wanted to. She would break his heart in a way Buffy  
had never managed to do and she hated herself and the thing that had  
done it. Cordelia had tried to fight, to get her body back, but the   
purple fire returned her to her prison. It always did. The other   
times had been too fleeting for her to do anything and left her with  
the impression that she didn't want her body back.   
  
Nathaniel Elias was right. This was her fault. If she hadn't been so   
full of herself, thinking she was so good and worthy of becoming a   
divine being, then none of this would have happened. She hadn't   
questioned the ascension like she should have because she had wanted it  
so badly. It was her chance to prove that she was no longer the vain,  
vapid cheerleader she once was, but it turned out that it proved the  
opposite. If she could curl her astral self into a ball and cry,   
Cordelia would have done it.  
  
"Lovely evening tonight, isn't it, Cordelia?" Nathaniel walked into   
the room through the concealed door. This was his hidden sanctuary in  
his study with a bookcase as its entrance. Nathaniel liked the   
Masterpiece Theatre classiness of it. It was better than doing his  
spells in a drafty warehouse. The astral figure in the magical prison  
ignored him. "Another cameo appearance in your life? I certainly hope  
it wasn't during an intimate moment with the vampire's son."  
  
Cordelia concentrated on her glowing hands. The colors were   
beautiful - pastel shades of green, blue, and pink along with gold and  
silver laced around her fingers and wrists. She wasn't going to   
respond. She had accepted her responsibility for this situation, but  
she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of defeating her. She would  
find some way to let Angel know that Connor was in danger and that her  
body had been hijacked by evil.   
  
"Why don't we check in on the happy family? Do you think Angel will be  
as proud a grandfather as he was a father?" Nathaniel used the remote  
to turn on the flat screen television hanging on the wall, but left  
the satellite receiver off. "Specto meus inimicus."  
  
The blue screen was abruptly replaced by a clear picture of the   
Hyperion's courtyard. Cordelia couldn't help it, she looked. She saw  
herself and Connor packing up a picnic basket and heading inside. The  
poor boy looked at her with so much love it was heartbreaking. They  
went inside where the others were busy researching something. "Angel."  
His name slipped from Cordelia's lips and she reached out to touch   
him. The purple fire caressed her fingertips instead. She would fix  
this and protect the people she loved. Nathaniel Elias and his   
imposter demon would not win. She would get her body back and then she  
would leave Los Angeles. She couldn't work with Angel so closely and  
not be with him. Any chance they had of a relationship had been   
destroyed.  
  
*****  
  
The man without fear. Elektra's words were printed in black and white  
in one of Ben Urich's articles for the Post. It was how he described  
the vigilante known as Daredevil. It was how Elektra had described her  
father's killer, the one who had left her for dead.  
  
"Lex!" Chloe rushed into his study, breathing heavy from her sprint  
across the mansion. "She's awake."  
  
"Call the doctor. Tell him I want him here immediately." Lex gave the  
orders as he strode quickly from the room. He raced toward the unused  
wing and made it in record time. He hadn't expected her to be up   
practicing with the sai, but it was disappointing find her still laying  
motionless in her bed with her eyes closed. "Elektra?"  
  
"Lex?" Elektra's eyes opened. Her grip on the sai loosened at the   
sight of her old friend. She reached out to him. "Matt. Is Matt   
okay?"  
  
Lex took Elektra's hand with a small frown. He wasn't sure why she  
was so concerned with Murdock, as far as he knew the lawyer had nothing  
to do with what had happened to her. "He's fine, as far as I know.   
I'm sure he's upset. I, uh, thought it would be safer if everyone  
believed that you died. He was at the memorial service I had in your  
honor."  
  
"Matt thinks I'm dead." Elektra felt her heart cramp and it was worse  
than the ache she felt in all of her muscles. Matt believed that he  
had watched her die. And knowing him, he probably felt responsible.  
"What happened...after I died?"  
  
"Well, I was a bit preoccupied at time covering up the fact that you  
are alive." Lex sat down in his usual chair. He took the weapon from  
her hand and set it on the bedside table. "Later I found out that a  
vigilante called Daredevil and a psycho who called himself Bullseye  
had a rather violent altercation in a nearby church. Bullseye was  
critically injured. That same night Daredevil also exposed Wilson   
Fisk as the legendary Kingpin. Fisk has been arrested on numerous  
charges, including ordering the hit on your father."  
  
"Mr. Fisk was the Kingpin? No wonder my father wanted to cut all   
business ties with him." Elektra had never liked her father's business  
associate, but she never would have thought he was the Kingpin. He had  
always seemed more brawn than brains and she had assumed that he had  
intimidated, not organized, his way to the top. Ever since her   
mother's death, Elektra had been aware that her father's business had  
its less legitimate side, but to be involved with the Kingpin...Still,  
he was her father and he had not deserved to die. "You said Bullseye  
was critically injured, did he die?"  
  
"No. He's scheduled to stand trial for your father's murder when he  
recovers sufficiently." Lex watched Elektra closely. If he went by  
her words before she was injured, then it was Daredevil, not Bullseye,  
who had killed Nikolas Natchios. "Several witnesses have come forward  
recently."  
  
It wasn't over. Her father's murderers were still alive. Thank God  
Matt was too. She didn't know what she would have done if he had died  
that night.   
  
"I know it will be awkward, but would you like to call him? You can  
blame me." Lex squeezed her hand and smiled.  
  
There was nothing Elektra wanted to do more than call Matt and tell him  
that she was alive and that she loved him. She would stay with him  
forever. "No, I can't." She couldn't put Matt in the middle of her  
plans for revenge again. She had made a promise on her father's grave  
that she would deal out justice in the manner of their Greek ancestors.  
She couldn't keep hurting Matt. It would be best if Matt went on   
believing that she was dead, especially if the only way to kill Fisk  
and Bullseye was to take them with her.   
  
"I thought I had lost you, Athena." Lex brought Elektra's hand to his  
mouth and kissed it. He wouldn't push her about Murdock yet, even   
though he thought she was wrong. She should go to him and live a   
wonderful life, but Lex could tell by the rigid set of her jaw that  
Elektra wasn't through with her quest for vengeance. Since Bullseye and  
the Kingpin were both in the hands of the law that meant that Daredevil  
had also played a part in Natchios' murder. She would go after him  
once she was fully recovered. The only way he could protect his friend  
was to find out who this Daredevil really was and go after him the way  
Luthor's did. Ben Urich seemed to know a lot about this Daredevil.  
Unfortunately he was a journalist who probably wouldn't take too kindly  
to a bribe. Lex would have to use Chloe to get to Urich and find out  
what he knew about Daredevil.  
  
***** 


	3. Chapter 2 Continued

It was working out better than Angel had expected. He didn't know if   
Wesley and Gunn actually supported Fred's idea or if they were just  
competing for her attention, but both of them immediately jumped on the  
Cordelia Imposter bandwagon. Wesley started looking up ascension   
prophecies and Gunn started listing the weird things Cordelia had been  
doing lately.   
  
"And at the top of the list is doing the kid. That ain't Barbie's   
style." Gunn cast a sympathetic glance at Angel. "Sorry, man."  
  
"Just because we don't like it, that doesn't mean it's not her." Angel  
had decided his best position was to play devil's advocate. The truth  
would become even more clearer to them as they tried to convince him  
of it.  
  
"Exactly, I agree with Angel." Lorne stepped into the discussion. He  
had looked increasingly worried and distraught ever since Fred had   
posed her question. "I read Cordelia...."  
  
"Yeah, and you also read Angelus and told us he was Angel." Gunn   
dismissed Lorne's reasoning with a grimace. "I think your reader is  
on the fritz."  
  
"I wish." Lorne shook his head sadly. "I'm a little low on the  
details since Wolfram and Hart gave me the ol' mind suck, but I know  
how I felt. What I saw wasn't just plain everyday evil, it was deep  
and dark. It made Angelus look like a choirboy." Lorne shuddered and  
looked at Angel desperation making his eyes redder and his skin a pale  
green. "That can't be our sweet Brown Eyes, Angel, it can't."  
  
"If Fred is right than it isn't." Wesley set down his book. It wasn't  
helping anyway. The ascension of mortal half demons was obviously   
rare, if not heard of before, occurrence. "Our Cordelia would still be  
a divine being on a higher plane."  
  
"But I read her," Lorne insisted. "Cordelia was there. If this some   
kind of an evil switcheroo than our imposter is using the real thing's  
body. And if it's purpose was to bring perpetual darkness and Angelus  
to L. A., then it failed. Why hasn't it left or killed us off?"  
  
"Maybe the Beast and perpetual darkness were a distraction and Angelus  
just a bonus," Angel commented quietly. "Maybe its purpose is the   
baby." He wanted to leave the room and wallow some more. He should be  
happy that the others were on his side, but he hadn't thought it   
through. It hadn't occurred to him that she could actually be using  
Cordelia's body. He had thought that once he had brought the others  
around to his line of thinking, he could just kill her.  
  
"What about my baby, Angel?" She glared at him from the doorway where  
she and Connor were standing. Angel wondered how much they had heard.  
She turned her gaze to the rest of the group and smiled. "I know you  
guys have been worried about what he's going to be, but you don't have  
to. The Powers sent me a vision and our baby is going to be a blessing  
for everyone." She hugged Connor to her side.  
  
Gunn snorted and looked away. "So you say."  
  
"You've never questioned my visions before." Her eyes had narrowed to  
dangerous slits.   
  
"I never questioned Cordy's visions." Gunn's stubborn glare was just  
as hard. He still remembered that night Cordy had tagged along to  
'protect' him. It galled him that he wasn't there to protect her when  
she had needed him, that he had allowed this thing to take her place.  
  
"Oh, so that's it." She smiled. It was Cordelia's smile - big,  
bright, and inviting. When she looked at Angel it twisted into   
something cruel. "Angel has been telling you his delusional fantasy  
that I'm not me."  
  
"Actually, it was Fred who suggested it." Wesley watched Cordelia  
closely. Not that the idea had been present, he could see differences  
in her personality. She did seem colder. His eyes landed on her hand  
on Connor's arm. She was very possessive of Connor, monopolizing his  
time and keeping him away from the rest of them, specifically Angel.  
Their Cordelia believed they were family, she took betrayal hard. She  
would be trying to unite father and son, not tear them apart. "I  
believe she has a valid point."  
  
Her eyes swept over them with a calculating gleam. Their varying  
hostile, sad, worried, and blank looks did not bode well. The damn  
vampire had actually done it. They suspected her of not being their  
wannabe saint. She turned to stand in front of Connor, demanding his  
attention. "I told you he would do this. I told you Angel would say  
anything to get rid of our baby and destroy of family. He hates us."  
  
"Lordy, our little brain trust was right." Lorne shook his head in  
disbelief, his mouth hanging open. There was no way their Cordelia  
would say something like that, not even while hopped up on baby   
hormones.  
  
"Connor, don't listen to them." The boy was the important one. It   
would have been easier if the other imbeciles had continued to believe  
her pretense - just like it would have been easier if Angelus hadn't  
killed the Beast and that damn interfering witch hadn't resouled   
Angel - but it wasn't necessary. All she needed was for the boy to  
protect her until the baby was born. "They've never accepted us or our  
baby. We should leave." She started to push the boy back.  
  
"No." Angel met his son's eyes over her shoulder. "Think, Connor,   
about when you first arrived in this dimension and met Cordelia. She's  
not her. We can prove it." This was it, either his son trusted him  
or not.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Connor spoke for the first time. It   
wasn't difficult to think back to when he had first arrived from   
Quor-toth, he was just as confused.   
  
"She is not Cordelia," Gunn said the words slowly for the boy's  
benefit. "And Angel can prove it."  
  
"He can not." She turned around with a sneer. "You can't have  
proof...." Her gaze skated to Connor. Damn! He actually looked like  
he was thinking. "Because there is nothing to prove."  
  
"Skip." Angel didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. "We   
have a demon calling spell, don't we, Wesley? Why don't we call up  
Skip and see what he has to say about Cordelia returning?"  
  
"No, Skip is busy," her voice was high with panic. They had her   
cornered. If they called the real Skip then they would know that  
Cordelia hadn't ascended at all. Her partner wouldn't be very pleased  
if that happened. She had to shut the vampire up. She hid her hand in  
the folds of her maternity gown and grasped a stake that she kept in  
one of the many voluminous pockets. "Connor, let's leave."  
  
This time Connor resisted the tug on his arm. He remembered Cordelia.  
He remembered how she had drained the darkness from him when he had  
attacked her to hurt his father. She had held him after and comforted  
him, like a mother. Like she loved him. He had once asked Holtz about  
his mother and had received a severe beating as an answer. His mother  
was a demon whore. His mother deserved to be spit upon for the   
abominations she had brought into the world. His mother had no love in  
her heart for a son and never would so she was best forgotten. He   
remembered how Cordelia had looked at his father with so much love.   
"I just...I wanted you to love me."   
  
"I do love you." She touched the boy's cheek. He was hers.  
  
Connor remembered how she had looked at him the night fire fell from   
the sky. Finally she had loved him, but it hadn't been right. He knew  
that even if he didn't want to accept it. He looked up at his father.  
He had never trusted him. Never. Why should he start now? Holtz had  
always told him that the vampire would twist things with lies and a   
false face. He had loved Cordelia and she had rejected him, wouldn't   
he lie to break them apart and hurt their baby? But he had learned   
things since his time with Holtz. He had learned that these people did  
fight evil and that Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Cordelia hadn't just been   
fools deluded by a killer. They did protect the innocent and so did   
his father.   
  
He had also met Angelus, the vampire who had killed Holtz's family. He  
could see the differences. When Angelus had looked at him, there had   
been nothing in his eyes - no connection, no pride, no love. He could   
see those things in his father's eyes right now. He could also see   
sadness and desperation. Connor focused on the soft, beating heart of   
the baby. He was a father now. He had to protect his family. He   
reached for Cordelia's hand and instead he grasped the smooth wood of a  
stake. She wanted him to kill his father. He frowned at her. There   
was no threat to their baby's life. They could just leave. There   
hadn't been a threat the last time she had asked him to kill his father  
either. Connor gripped the stake, taking it from her. She smiled, but  
it didn't reach her eyes. There was nothing in her eyes. She was like  
Angelus.   
  
"You don't love me." Before he realized it, the stake was embedded in  
her stomach. The fluttering of the baby's heart faltered and died.  
His wasn't lying, the demon beside him wasn't Cordelia and their baby   
would have been something terrible. They were special. She had said  
that over and over again. They were also demons and Holtz had taught  
him to destroy demons. Cordelia was dead, the one who had loved his   
father and could have been his mother. A mother that could love him  
and be proud of him. The bleeding demon beside him had taken away his  
chance at having a family. "I don't want your love," Connor yelled   
through his sobs. He yanked the stake out of her. They were both  
special.  
  
*****  
  
"No!" Nathaniel watched the screen with horror as the boy staked the  
demon growing inside of Cordelia's womb. It was dead. Only the   
child's father was capable of killing it and he did.  
  
Cordelia heard Angel echo Nathaniel's protest. She watched as he  
rushed toward Connor and knocked the stake out of his hand before he  
could turn it on himself. She saw his indecision - comfort Connor or  
keep her body alive. "Let me go, Angel," Cordelia urged quietly. She  
wanted so badly to touch him - to hug him and hold his hand while they  
discussed how he could help his son get through this latest trauma in  
his young life. She watched as Wesley and Gunn knelt beside her body  
and tried to stop the bleeding. She wished she could have the chance  
to say good-bye to all of them.  
  
"It's not over yet, Saint Cordelia." Nathaniel sneered. He knew what  
she was thinking. Once her body died, her soul would no longer be   
trapped by his spell and then she probably would become a higher being.  
Then she could watch over her dear asinine friends and pathetic beloved  
Angel. It wasn't going to happen. As long as he had her, he had   
control over the vampire. The mystical child of the Destroyer and the  
PTB Seer was supposed to have been his key to controlling all demon  
activity on the West Coast. It would have gotten rid of The First,   
the Slayer, and opened the Hellmouth for him. Now Angel would have to  
do it. "Reverti."  
  
On screen, the demon that possessed the body of Cordelia Chase started  
to scream. Wes and Gunn backed away as angry red flames consumed her   
and she disappeared. In Nathaniel's hidden room, an empty fireplace  
flared to life. The flames spit out Cordelia's body and with it.  
Sudden, searing pain slammed into Cordelia's astral self. Her body  
pulled at her, but the purple fire that surrounded her separated them.  
  
"Thank you." The demon controlling Cordelia's body smiled. She  
struggled to her feet, reaching a hand down to her still bleeding  
belly. "That bastard kid ruined everything. What's our next move?"  
  
"You ruined everything." Nathaniel picked up a sharp black handled  
knife, runic etchings decorated the hilt and the blade. He pointed it  
at Cordelia's forehead. The writings on the side started to glow and  
a strangled gasp issued from Cordelia's throat. Slowly, thick strings  
of inky black seeped out of her mouth and wrapped around the blade.  
"First you let Angelus kill the Beast. Then you let that meddling  
witch re-soul Angel. Finally, you failed to secure the vampire spawn's  
loyalty and allowed him to murder his child. Your next move is go back  
to Hell and stay there!" The last of the black left Cordelia's body  
and it fell limply to the floor. Nathaniel tossed the knife into the  
fireplace where it screeched and burned and finally disappeared.  
  
The pain was intense. Cordelia felt her astral self being pulled   
through the magical purple fire of her cell and drawn to her body.   
Now that nothing else possessed its place, her soul sought out its home  
and no magic could hold it back. Her eyes opened and she stared at  
Nathaniel Elias in shock. She felt woozy and sick and her heart  
struggled to beat and move around what little blood was left in her  
body. She was going to die.  
  
*****   
  
The night was unusually quiet. Daredevil paced along the roof of an   
office building and listened for any sign of unrest. It was a weird  
quiet - not even the rats were scurrying around in search of food and  
things to gnaw on. He didn't like it. He had a feeling that something  
was cloaking itself in the calm and when it decided it was time to   
wreck havoc, Daredevil wasn't sure he would be able to protect his  
city. Especially since he had no idea what the hell was a possible  
threat to it.  
  
The sound of the scrape of a dumpster being moved on the pavement came  
from the alley below Daredevil. He leaned over the building's ledge  
and looked down. Something moved. It skulked down the alley and out   
into the street. It took a moment before Daredevil followed. He had  
seen it. He hadn't heard it move. He hadn't seen its outline in the  
vibrations of his radar sense. He could see its dark shadow shape with  
a dull grey aura around it. It moved too quickly to be human. Good  
thing he moved quickly as well.  
  
As he followed the unusual figure, staying out of its sight by keeping  
above it, Daredevil tried to use his other senses to gather information  
on who or what it was. It moved with very little sound - stealthy like  
a predator - but what was really disconcerting was that he couldn't   
hear it breath or its heart beating. It emitted a low level sound that  
Daredevil was sure only he and animals with extremely good hearing   
could hear. It smelled. The fresh sharp, tangy scent of blood clung  
to it and underneath was the older stale odor of dried blood. Whatever  
it was, Daredevil didn't like it.  
  
The thing went into an old apartment building that had recently been  
renovated in an effort to attract more affluent tenants to the area.  
Daredevil knew where they were. He knew every inch of his city by the  
sounds and smells and the feeling of the urban landscape under his  
feet. The owner of the building was Nathaniel Elias, a former lawyer   
turned wealthy business man. He had taken over a lot of Nikolas   
Natchios' holdings when they had been sold after Elektra's death.   
Daredevil had been keeping an eye on him in case he decided to take   
over some things from the Kingpin as well. Daredevil stopped on the   
roof of the building across the street. A lot of the buildings on this  
block were empty due to 'renovations.' They were owned by Elias too.  
There was nothing outwardly suspicious going on, but there had to be a  
reason that Elias wanted the buildings around his home empty.  
  
A woman's screams coming from the penthouse apartment was reason enough  
for Daredevil. He threw out his grappling hook, which caught on the  
wrought iron guard rail of the balcony, and he swung across. The  
screaming stopped as he landed. He let himself into the apartment  
through the unlocked balcony doors and stepped inside. Elias certainly  
wasn't afraid of burglars. It was a study, Daredevil could smell the  
dusty aroma of old books and the heavy scent of cedar. He could hear  
a voice, but it wasn't in this room. It was behind a bookcase. A few  
well-placed taps and his radar sense showed him the opening mechanism  
for the hidden door.  
  
Nothing could have prepared Daredevil for what was in Elias' secret  
room. The bookcase glided open and Daredevil's blind eyes were   
immediately assaulted by a bright white light. The unnatural hum that  
the other being had emitted sang louder in the air, driving his radar  
sense nuts. Daredevil closed his eyes and covered his ears until he  
could orientate himself to the new sensory input. When he did open his  
eyes, he saw two people. A woman bathed in glowing white lay on the  
floor while a man stood above her. Crackling blue energy discharged  
from the man's hands, but it seemed to be rebuffed by the radiance   
engulfing the woman.   
  
"You can't keep this up," the man warned. It was Nathaniel Elias. The  
blue color intensified and the white glow started to wane. "If you   
give up now then I might be lenient on the others. I'll just use the   
vampire. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."  
  
"Angel," the woman gasped. The white glow was flickering and the blue  
energy snaked in and zapped at her body. Daredevil didn't understand  
exactly what was going on, but she was in trouble. He unsheathed his  
billy club and threw the baton at the man. It hit him in the head at  
his temple and knocked him to the floor. The unnatural light given  
off by the blue energy and the white glow ceased.  
  
"Are you okay?" Daredevil crossed the room to the woman. He could  
smell blood. She was hurt. He knelt down beside her and picked her  
up. "You're safe now. I'll get you out of here." Nathaniel Elias'  
heart was still beating, he was alive, but Daredevil really didn't care  
at that moment. His concern was for the woman. He would take care of  
Elias later.  
  
To be continued.... 


	4. Chapter 3

***Sorry for the long hiatus, hopefully my fanfic muse won't go on   
another extended holiday and I'll be able to update more quickly from   
now on. I also hope that interest hasn't waned and that there are   
people who still want to read this story as well as my others. I'm   
working on the next part of 'Corruptible' and will have it posted   
within the next week. Thanks for hanging in there!!  
  
Part Three  
  
Never in all of Angel's two and half centuries on this earth had time  
moved so slowly. Days and nights dragged endlessly, but he didn't mind.  
During the night he could find some relief from his guilt and grief by  
kicking the shit out of various demons and vampires. The days were a  
mixture of heaven and hell. His days were spent in one of two ways -  
he either slept all day and dreamed of Cordelia or he stayed awake and  
remembered her. In the beginning he had remembered her smile, her  
laugh, the sparkle in her eyes, the way she smelled sweet with a hint  
of spicy raspberry. Those had been the easy things to remember, now  
Angel found himself recalling other things - things that surprised him  
because he hadn't realized how important they had been to him. He  
remembered meeting her at that inane Hollywood party where she had   
innocently asked him if he was still 'grrr' and then brushed him off  
to go talk to 'important' people. She had been so young and sweetly  
innocent then. He shuddered to think about how he hadn't recognized   
that Cordelia had been just as desperate and vulnerable as Tina. He   
had almost lost her that night because he had seen her as the Sunnydale  
Cordelia - all brass tacks and arrogance - and not a target for a   
sadistic, hungry vampire. He had learned so much about Cordelia in   
that first year.  
  
A sharp knock invaded Angel's memories, but he ignored it. Usually  
someone would wander up to his room a few hours after sunset to drag   
him out. Angel wasn't ready yet. He smiled as he remembered Doyle's  
crush on Cordelia and how she would always brush him off. Back then  
Angel had let himself think that he was acting the protective big  
brother role, looking out for Cordelia by interrogating her dates and  
making sure that Doyle's advances didn't go too far, but even then a   
part of him recognized that he needed her. He was protective because  
he hadn't wanted another man to take her away from him. He had been  
too mired in his love for Buffy to have those feelings for Cordelia  
then, but she had still been the most important thing in his life. She  
still was even though she was no longer with him.  
  
The bedroom door opened and Connor stepped into his room. His son's  
eyes stayed trained on the floor. "Fred tracked down the vampires that  
took that lady's kid."   
  
Angel didn't move from his bed, but his mind did wander from Cordelia  
to his son. He didn't hate Connor or blame him for Cordelia's death,  
but he knew that the boy blamed himself. Angel wished that he could  
alleviate that guilt and tell him that the events that led up to   
Cordelia's death had started long before the boy was born and that he  
couldn't be blamed. It was his fault that Cordelia had been involved.  
She had received the visions because of him, she had refused to give  
them up because of him. He should never have involved her in his life,  
his mission. He should have let her go.  
  
"Dad, we have to go. Wesley says that there's a chance that the little  
girl is still alive. This vampire family uses a child in a ritual that  
they perform during a new moon." Connor ventured a quick glance at his  
father. Angel's face was blank, as always. His father had become a  
machine since Cordelia.....Connor shut down the thought. The only  
reason why he hadn't followed through with killing himself was because  
Fred said Angel couldn't lose both of the people he loved, it would  
kill him. He had caused his father enough pain in his lifetime, so he  
lived with all of the things he had done. Holtz would have been proud.  
He had accomplished his goal of taking away the woman and child that  
Angel loved just as the demon Angelus had done to him. Of course,   
Holtz had only intended to take away the son - Connor had wanted   
Cordelia. He had thought that she had wanted him too - that she had   
chosen him over his father - but that had been the demon, not Cordelia.  
She had never loved him. "Dad..."  
  
"Let's go," Angel interrupted. He swung his legs over the side of the  
bed and stood up. He didn't want to hear his son apologize. Cordelia  
was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. Angel grabbed  
his leather jacket as he walked out of the room, unaware that he was   
already wearing his vampire face. He needed to kill.  
  
*****  
  
It was weird that the sai fascinated Chloe so much. She wasn't a   
'warrior' person and weapons rarely held any interest for her, but the  
trident-like blades were strangely compelling. She was especially  
intrigued when she watched Elektra use them. It was difficult to   
believe that it was only a few months ago that Elektra had been  
mortally wounded. She moved with strength and grace as she whirled  
the sai in fluid movements.  
  
"Hi, Chloe." Elektra halted her workout once she noticed the blond  
girl in the doorway. She set her weapons down on a table that was   
pushed up against the wall and grabbed a towel. Lex had arranged for  
the furniture to be removed from the bedroom next to hers to provide   
her with space to workout and get her strength back. Now that she was  
feeling better, being confined to the unused wing of the Manor was   
making her a bit stir-crazy and she was grateful for company. "How  
was school today?"  
  
"Same as always." Chloe rolled her eyes and let her bag slip from her  
shoulder to land on the floor. "Clark and Lana are mooning over each  
other like lovesick teenagers and I'm barely a blip on their radar  
screen. Why does she have to be so damn perfect? I can't even hate   
her properly." Chloe sighed. She and Elektra had bonded since Lex's  
old friend had woken from her coma. It had become a habit for her to   
come to Luthor Manor after school and vent her Clark/Lana frustrations.  
She walked over to the table to stand beside Elektra. She couldn't   
help reaching out to touch the handle of one of the sai. "So, have you  
decided what you're going to do now?"  
  
"I'm not going to call Matt anymore than you are going to go up to   
Clark and tell him how you feel about him." Elektra took a sip of   
bottled water. She had told Chloe all about Matt - everything except  
his identity as Daredevil - and the younger girl was trying to convince  
her to tell Matt she was still alive.  
  
"Clark only thinks of me as a friend." Chloe twisted her lips into a   
wry smile. "I guess it's about time that I accepted it and moved on.  
But you don't have to move on, Matt loves you. He deserves to know."  
  
"Matt deserves to find someone who will be there when he needs her. I  
can't promise that while my father's murderers escape justice."  
  
"I bet he wouldn't see it that way. I know if Clark did love me, I   
wouldn't care when he did his usual disappearing to save the world  
act." Chloe stared wistfully down at the table. Clark would never  
love her and she did have to move on. That's why she had taken Lex up  
on his offer to help Elektra by finding out who Daredevil was and   
letting Lex deal with him. Then Elektra could go back to Matt and live  
happily ever after. Hopefully, digging around in someone else's   
business that had nothing to do with Smallville would help her forget  
Clark.   
  
"Yes, you would." Elektra smiled. Clark Kent was a fool for not   
loving Chloe. "So, do you finally want to learn how to use these   
instead of admiring them from afar?"  
  
"No, I don't think so." Chloe backed away, shaking her head adamantly.  
"I'm not the Xena type. I'm more first season Gabrielle."  
  
"And look how good she was by the end of the series." Elektra held out  
one of the sai. She grinned when Chloe took it. She needed something  
to occupy her time until she was ready to leave Luthor Manor and Lex  
and teaching Chloe what her sensei's' had taught her was perfect. She  
and Chloe moved to the middle of the room. "Okay, we'll just go over  
a few basic moves. This is how you hold it." Elektra positioned the  
weapon in Chloe's hand as she talked. "The middle blade rests along  
the inside of your arm like this with your pointing finger running up  
against the handle. Your fingers curl over the third tine and your   
thumb goes under the first tine to fold over the fingers. The sai are  
primarily defensive weapons and this is a blocking hold."  
  
"Okay." Chloe clutched the handle tightly. She hated doing things she  
wasn't good at and her previous experience with the sai told her that  
this was not her forte. It was just her and Elektra though and Elektra  
had looked so happy when she had agreed to be taught how to use these  
things. It was kind of exciting.  
  
"You'll have to ease up on your grip, Chloe. The key to using the sai  
is changing how you hold it." Elektra stepped away from her student  
and held the other sai as she had just explained. She quickly flipped  
it out into an offensive hold, thrust it at an invisible attacker, and  
flipped it back to block an imaginary blow. "There. Now you try."  
  
Chloe stared at Elektra in wide-eyed disbelief. "No."  
  
"Come on, you can do it." Elektra moved back to Chloe's side. "We'll  
take it slow. First, flip it. Get used to the feel of the weapon in  
your hand." She demonstrated, slowly whirling the sai to point out in  
front of her.  
  
It didn't look too difficult when Elektra did it that way. All Chloe   
had to do was flip it. She loosened her grip, carefully weighing the  
weapon in her hand. She could do this. Chloe took a deep breath and  
let go. Unfortunately, she used too much force and the sai sailed out  
of her grasp and landed with the middle tine sticking out of the floor  
at Lex's feet.  
  
Lex looked down at the blade that had narrowly missed his foot as he  
had stepped into the room. He looked up at Chloe, her face was a  
delightful shade of pink. "I think you should stick to writing."  
  
"Don't listen to him, Chloe." Elektra smiled at her old friend. She  
walked over and plucked the sai out of the floor and then set both of  
them on the table. "Lex is just jealous because you've already   
mastered more than he ever did when I attempted to teach him the same  
thing."  
  
"Luthors don't get jealous." Lex smiled back. It was good to see   
Athena back to her old self - although he knew she hadn't given up on  
getting her vengeance. The only way he could keep her safe was to deal  
with Daredevil himself and Chloe was already in a position to get all  
the information he needed. "Gabe tells me that you've found yourself  
a mentor in Ben Urich, Chloe."  
  
"Yeah, he's been helping me a lot." Chloe picked up her book bag and  
shouldered it. "He's arranged for me to do a one month internship at  
the Probe, it's an affiliate paper of the Post's in Los Angeles. I've  
worked everything out with my teachers, I'll email my assignments and  
take my exams when I get back. Dad's the only holdout, he doesn't   
want me going to L. A. alone."  
  
"I'm sure we can convince him. You must be getting bored shut up in   
here, Athena, why don't you accompany Chloe to Los Angeles?" Lex made  
the suggestion like it had just occurred to him and hadn't been   
planned. He needed Elektra to be as far away from New York as possible  
if he was going to go after Daredevil. "We can tell Gabe that she's   
my assistant from Metropolis."  
  
"Sure. I've never really spent a lot of time on the west coast so no  
one should know me. Besides, you're a terrible host, Luthor." Elektra  
agreed even though she knew Lex was up to something. This was a great  
opportunity for Chloe and she didn't want to ruin it for the girl. It  
would be nice to also be able to go outside without worrying about  
running into Lex's fiancée.  
  
"I'll have you know I'm the perfect host to guests who haven't been  
declared dead." Lex relaxed a fraction. Elektra would soon be far   
away from New York and Smallville. Helen was starting to get   
suspicious about his absences and Chloe's frequent visits. She had  
even accused him of carrying on an affair with the girl. Luckily, he  
had managed to convince her that Chloe was merely working on an   
exclusive interview with him that would help her get an internship at  
a paper. Now Helen would no longer doubt his claim.  
  
"Great. I have to meet with Mr. Urich in New York on the weekend to  
finalize the details and then it's off to L. A." Chloe grinned.   
"Well, I should get back. I'm supposed to meet Clark, Pete, and Lana  
at the Talon. Thanks, Elektra."   
  
"I'll walk you out," Lex offered. He needed to speak to Chloe about  
Ben Urich and what she had found out about Daredevil.  
  
"Can I talk to you for a minute first, Lex?" Elektra stopped them from  
leaving.  
  
"I'll wait in the hall." Chloe left the two friends alone.  
  
Elektra hopped up onto the table next to the sai. "How is Helen? You  
are still engaged to her, right?" She casually sipped at her water.  
  
"She's fine and of course we're still engaged." Lex's eyes narrowed.  
"Why the odd question?"  
  
"I don't think it's odd. Do you know what I think is odd?" Elektra  
paused and waited for Lex to nod at her to continue. "I think it's   
odd that you're marrying someone you don't trust."  
  
"If I insisted upon marrying someone I could trust, my options would be  
severely limited." Lex smiled in mild amusement. "I would have to   
marry you, Athena, and we don't want that."  
  
"Definitely not. What about Chloe?"  
  
All amusement left Lex. "Chloe is a child."  
  
"Not for long," Elektra countered. She leaned forward. She had   
watched Lex and had seen how he interacted with Chloe. He let his   
guard down and actually enjoyed her company. "You should see the spark  
in your eyes when you talk with her. She challenges you. Lex, if you  
just wait...."  
  
"Patience was never a skill I possessed. I'm marrying Helen." Lex  
turned to walk out the door.  
  
"I want you to be happy."  
  
"I know. I want the same for you." Lex looked back pointedly at his  
friend before leaving. Chloe waited at the end of the hall. She  
really was much too young. "Has Urich shown you anything new on   
Daredevil?"  
  
Chloe shook her head. "Not really. He just reports it when Daredevil  
catches a criminal or rescues a damsel. Mr. Urich knows who Daredevil  
is and it's someone close to him."  
  
Lex raised his brow. "That's an awfully confident assumption. What do  
you base it on?"  
  
"He's not investigating Daredevil's identity. If he didn't know,   
that's what he would be concentrating on. Also, Daredevil's identity  
is a major story - one Mr. Urich isn't writing. I know that if Clark  
was some cloaked superhero fighting crime and I knew about it, I   
wouldn't be able to report it. Mr. Urich admires not only Daredevil,  
but the man he is when he's not dressed in a red devil suit. Are you  
sure Daredevil killed Elektra's father?"  
  
"Elektra is and she won't stop until she kills him. If I can unmask  
him and have him prosecuted first, then she will have to let it go."  
Lex frowned. He was telling Chloe too much. Elektra was right, he  
did trust her. It didn't matter. Helen was his fiancée, any   
attraction or connection he felt for Chloe had to be ignored.   
  
*****  
  
It was difficult to visit Elektra's grave, but Matt forced himself to   
do it once a week. He always brought fresh flowers - roses. Dark red  
roses for Elektra. It was ironic that he would forever associate their  
heavy scent with the love of his life and the death of his father. The  
pungent smell of the rose Kingpin had left on his father's body had   
overwhelmed him as he had realized that he was alone. That same odor   
had heralded Elektra's arrival in his life and he had thought that he   
would never be alone again. Then Kingpin had taken her away from him.  
  
He brought white roses as well for her father's grave. He knew Elektra  
would have wanted Nikolas Natchios grave tended to, so he did it for  
her. Matt set the white roses down first before turning to Elektra's  
grave. When he had begun these visits, he had traced her name with his  
fingertips so many times that the sensation of marble never left his  
skin. He didn't bother doing that anymore. She wasn't here. Matt had  
thought that once he had accepted Elektra's death, he would find   
something of her here. That he would be comforted by the feeling that  
her spirit was still with him.   
  
"Why aren't you here?" Matt whispered. "There's so much I want to  
tell you." But he didn't. He didn't want to tell his secrets to the  
wind. He wanted to tell Elektra - even if it was only her spirit -   
but he couldn't feel her presence here at all and he didn't know why.  
  
A sudden breeze ruffled Matt's hair and with it the scent of roses  
wafted around him. His head snapped up as hope flared through him.  
"Elektra?" A small part of him had always believed that the reason  
why he couldn't find her here was because she wasn't here. He hadn't   
accepted her death at all. Matt opened his clenched fist slowly,   
letting the petals of the rose he had crushed drift down onto the  
grave. Elektra wasn't alive. He had watched her die. He had attended  
her funeral. She was dead and he had to let her go. Matt let himself  
remember for a moment how beautiful she had looked that night in the  
rain and then he turned and left. He wouldn't be coming back.  
  
There was someone else in the cemetery. He had heard their approach  
moments after had had arrived, but whoever it was had stopped abruptly  
about ten feet behind him. As he walked by, Matt had an irrational   
urge to say something that would require a response from the person.  
He needed to her their voice. He squelched the urge and ignored the  
need. It was one thing to entertain his fantasies of Elektra coming  
back to him in his head and quite another to interrupt another person's  
grief with them. He continued on to his waiting cab instead.  
  
The stale interior of the cab wiped the scent of roses from Matt's  
nostrils. He gave the cabbie the address of his law office and sat   
back. He reached across the seat and picked up a bouquet of lilies  
and brought it to his nose. Cordelia. He had bought these flowers   
to cheer her up and to thank her. She had opened up a whole new world  
of evil for him - demons, vampires, magic - and had showed him how to  
fight it. She hadn't told him how she knew about these things yet or  
who had taught her how to fight them and he didn't ask.  
  
The night he had met Cordelia had changed a lot of things for him. He  
was no longer alone. He knew instinctively that she had lost the   
people she loved as well. The first few days she had hardly spoken -  
the only thing she would say was not to take her to a hospital. He  
had taken some time off work to nurse her back to health, but her  
injuries healed amazingly fast. For some reason - maybe because she  
knew his secret - Cordelia had told him about taking on the aspect of  
a demon so that she could have visions that helped her stop evil. In  
the months that Cordelia had lived with Matt they had saved a half  
dozen innocent victims using their powers.  
  
"Hi, Matt!" Karen's perky voice greeted him as he walked into the  
office.   
  
"Hi, Karen." Matt smiled. He handed her a bouquet of tulips. Karen  
was a bit put out having Cordelia in the office. She was threatened  
and she tended to treat Cordelia coolly. He hoped that he could   
smooth things over. "These are to thank you for all the hard work you  
do around here. We couldn't do this without you, Karen."  
  
"Oh, thank you, Matt. You're so sweet." Karen gave him a quick peck  
on the cheek and he could feel the slight heat of her blush.  
  
"You're welcome. Do you know where Cordelia is?"  
  
He heard Karen sigh as she moved away from him. "She's re-organizing  
the files in the back."  
  
"Thanks." Matt made his way to the back room where they kept the old  
client files. There really wasn't anything to re-organize, Matt   
suspected that Cordelia was uncomfortable out front with Karen. "Hi,  
Cordelia."  
  
"Matt." Cordelia looked up from the file in her hands. She was   
sitting on the floor in front of a file cabinet pretending to be   
useful. Like the good old days. Things had been so simple in the  
beginning when it had just been her, Doyle, and Angel and their worst  
problem was her filing system.   
  
"Karen said you were back here." Matt leaned in the doorway and  
smiled. "You know you don't have to do this."  
  
"I know." Cordelia put the file away and closed the drawer. "Karen  
really knows her filing. I suck at it. I'm probably messing it up  
anyway." She moved to stand and wasn't surprised when Matt's hand  
extended to help her up. He was an extraordinary man. During the   
long days of her recovery when they were both confined to his   
apartment, he had told her about the accident when he was a boy that  
had taken his sight, but had enhanced his other senses. He had also  
told her about his father's murder and his quest to exact justice for  
the innocent victims of violence. There were things he hadn't told  
her - like why he was so sad and alone. That's why she had trusted   
him after he had taken her out of Nathaniel's wretched penthouse. He  
was as sad and alone as she was. Cordelia was also aware that Matt  
reminded her of Angel, but she tried not to think about that.  
  
"I brought you these." Matt produced the lilies from behind his   
back. He hoped they made her smile. He suspected that she had a   
terrific smile.  
  
"Thank you, Matt, that's sweet." Cordelia smiled. She took the   
bouquet from him. The lilies were huge and an almost incandescent  
white. She reached out and touched his cheek. "I should be the one  
who is giving you flowers. You've done so much for me."  
  
"You've done a lot for me too, Cordelia." Matt took her hand. "I  
know we haven't known each other very long, but I consider you to be  
a very good friend." He leaned down as if to tell her a secret and  
said in a lowered voice, "I like it when my friends are happy."  
  
"So do I." Cordelia caressed the soft waxy petals of one of the   
lilies. For the first time in a long time, she felt a bit of warmth  
beneath her pain and guilt. Matt was her friend. She may not be able  
to return to Angel and her friends in Los Angeles, but she had found  
a place in New York. With Matt's help, she could still help the   
hopeless with her visions. She had a day job at an office with people  
she liked - despite Karen's bitchiness - and if she wanted to, she  
could even start acting again. Maybe audition for a play. She could  
start over here. It wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't be perfect like  
in L. A., but it would work. She would make it work. "I'll make you  
a deal, Matt. I'll do my best to be happy if you will." Cordelia   
squeezed his hand.  
  
Happy. The last time Matt had been happy was when he had danced with  
Elektra at the Black and White Ball. He could never be that happy   
again, but if it would help Cordelia then he could pretend and maybe  
even find some semblance of happiness. He shook Cordelia's hand.  
"Deal."  
  
*****  
  
The Luthor jet was beautiful. The cabin was spacious with large,   
comfortable black leather seats and a mini bar. Elektra watched the  
clouds drift by her window. She never should have visited her  
father's grave, but she had wanted to say good-bye and there had been  
some morbid curiosity about her own grave. A part of her had wanted  
to see Matt once more. She hadn't been surprised that he was there.  
  
It had physically hurt her not to go to him. Her stomach was still  
twisted in knots and her fingers ached from being denied the chance to  
touch him. Her resolve had almost broken when he had looked up and   
said her name. "Matt," Elektra whispered the answer she had so   
desperately wanted to give to the clouds instead of the man who was   
now beyond her reach. She had made the right decision. Matt would  
eventually go on with his life. He would find someone new to love.  
Someone who would love him more than anything. Elektra sighed. All   
she had was revenge. Once Bullseye and Wilson Fisk were dead she   
would move on. She glanced over to Lex and couldn't help smiling.  
He was sitting at the other end of the cabin with Chloe, engrossed in  
their conversation. He would help her create a new life once it was  
done. It wouldn't even come close to the perfect life she could have  
had with Matt, but she would survive. Elektra Natchios would stay  
dead, but she would try to piece together some sort of life for   
herself. Elektra closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. She could  
still dream of Matt.  
  
"Is she okay?" Lex shifted his gaze from Elektra back to Chloe. He  
couldn't help observing that Chloe looked good. Her cheeks were pink  
and her eyes gleamed with keen excitement.   
  
"She visited her grave today while I was meeting with Urich at the   
Post. Matt was there." Chloe looked up at Lex. He was sitting so  
close. She had never sat beside him before - there had always been a  
desk or a table between them. "I wish she would tell him. She would  
be so much happier if she did."  
  
"Yes, it would be nice to make decisions based solely on happiness,  
but that isn't how our world works. Elektra and I were raised to make  
happiness a low priority." Lex couldn't believe he had said that.  
He never confided about his childhood to anyone but Elektra. He  
cleared his throat. "Did you get anything further from Urich?"  
  
Chloe frowned, but decided to take the change in subject in stride.  
Delving into the Luthor psyche was a risk she couldn't afford to take.  
As much as she would like to get to know Lex better, she knew it would  
end up hurting her. Lex was going to marry Dr. Helen Bryce and the  
last thing Chloe needed was to have another unrequited crush. "Ben  
left me alone in his office to do some research while he was in a  
meeting with his editor. I recovered a deleted file that was in his  
Daredevil folder." She handed Lex a disc. "I didn't have time to   
look at it."  
  
"But you did make a copy for yourself."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Lex smiled and slipped the disc into his breast pocket. He was going  
to miss Chloe while she was in L. A. He would have to fly out to   
check up on Elektra and make sure she was okay and Chloe would be  
there. "Of course."  
  
To be continued..... 


End file.
